Greig And Lloyd Pack To Feature In Gate Theatre's THE TROJAN WOMEN

Tamsin Greig and Roger Lloyd Pack will appear in The Trojan Women as Athena and Poseiden in a pre-recorded film that forms part of the production.

They will be seen alongside the previously announced cast of Louise Brealey (Cassandra, Andromache, Helen), Sam Cox (Menelaus), Lucy Ellinson (Chorus), Jon Foster (Talthybius) and Dearbhla Molloy (Hecuba).Caroline Bird’s bold adaptation of The Trojan Women is the opening production in The Aftermath Season which will later continue with the British première of Bruce Norris’s Purple Heart in February 2013.

The war is over. Beyond the prison walls, Troy and its people burn. Inside the prison, the city’s captive women await their fate. Stalking the antiseptic confines of its mother and baby unit is Hecuba, the fallen Trojan queen. But her grief at what has been before will soon be drowned out by the horror of what is to come, as the Greek lust for vengeance consumes everything - man, woman and baby – in its path.

This caustic and radical new version of Euripides's classic tragedy comes from one of the UK’s most exciting young poets –Caroline Bird. Directed by the Gate’s Artistic Director Christopher Haydon, it is an intense, gripping look at what happens when the world collapses.

Tamsin Greig plays Athena. She returns to the Gate, where she previously appeared in White Rabbit Red Rabbit. Her other recent theatre credits include Jumpy (Royal Court and Duke of York’s), The Little Dog Laughed,for which she was nominated for an Olivier Award, and The God of Carnage (both West End), and Gethsemane (National Theatre). She played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing at the RSC for which she won Olivier and Critics’ Circle Awards. Her television credits include Episodes, White Heat, Friday Night Dinner, Black Books, Green Wing, The Diary of Anne Frank, Love Soupand Emma.She received a BIFA nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Tamara Drewe.

Roger Lloyd Pack plays Poseiden. His theatre work includes Twelfth Night/Richard III (Shakespeare’s Globe and West End),The Seagull (Arcola Theatre), Dealer’s Choice (Menier Chocolate Factory and Trafalgar Studios), Blue/Orange (Sheffield Theatres and tour) and The Dark (Donmar Warehouse). For television, his credits include Hustle, Survivors, The History of Mr Polly, Doctor Who, The Vicar of Dibley (series regular), Only Fools and Horses (series regular), Fish, Longitude and Oliver Twist; and for film,Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Dagenham Girls, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Vanity Fair and The Avengers.

This talkback will be a conversation with Caroline Bird and Christopher Haydon, Artistic Director of the Gate, and the director ofThe Trojan Women, about the origins of this new adaptation, and how the production evolved. Chaired by Ellen McDougall, Associate Director at the Gate Theatre.

Dr James Thompson is a senior honorary lecturer in psychology at UCL, and a leading expert on trauma. He also works as an advisor to the World Health Organisation Management Group, and the Cabinet Office on Whitehall, as well as numerous other organisations and bodies, internationally. He was a founder member of The Traumatic Stress Clinic in 1987, of which he is still a Co-Director. His many areas of research and publication include Disaster Aftermath, and the Evaluation of Psychological Treatment of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Dr Thompson has also worked as a psychologist on theatre productions including Mr Kolpert (Royal Court); Our Class, on which he advised on the psychology of perpetrators of violent crimes, and Primo (National Theatre). He also worked on, and was included as a character in Talking to Terrorists (Royal Court).

Post Show Discussion with the cast and director – 29 November

This event will also be captioned, and chaired by Ellen McDougall.

Women and War with Natasha Walter – 5 December

Natasha Walter is a writer, broadcaster and campaigner. She is the author of Living Dolls: The Return of Sexism and The New Feminism. She is also the founder of Women for Refugee Women.

Masterclass with Caroline Bird – 8 December

This workshop will be an opportunity for budding writers and poets to develop their skills and approaches to writing with practical exercises, advice, and skills sharing.

To book a place on the workshop, please visit the Gate’s website

Adapting Greek Tragedy with Professor Simon Goldhill – 13 December

Professor Simon Goldhill is Professor in Greek Literature and Culture and Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at King's College Cambridge. He is also Director of CRASSH, the Centre for Research in the Arts, Social Sciences, and Humanities at the University of Cambridge. His research interests include: Greek Tragedy, Greek Culture, Literary Theory, Later Greek Literature, and Reception. His many publications on the topic include How to Stage Greek Tragedy, University of Chicago (2007) and Love, Sex and Tragedy; How the Ancient World Shapes Our Lives, University of Chicago Press, 2004.